Water for Elephants is so good. I was initially reminded of Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence because the narrator is an aging person who remembers important events in their youth, but this book is less angry and regretful and more a homage to the circus rather than the narrator's decline.
The narrator is Jacob, a 91 year old man living in a nursing home. The circus arrives and sets up beside his nursing home, and he relives his youth in the circus. He remembers the circumstances that got him there, how he met his wife, and how he came to be the man he is. The details are vivid, and paint an amazing picture of what life was like in a circus during the 1930s Great Depression.
It also painted a genuine picture of what it is like to age... and that always makes me sad when I can see it myself in person.
Sara Gruen is a great writer, and I can't wait to read her other book.
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